Last Chance
by camnz
Summary: The last day of school, a secret is made on the last train ride home. One Shot.


Last Chance

It was the last day of school, ever. Hermione had hardly gotten any sleep at all. Most students had stayed up. It was their very last chance to hang out together. From now on, they were grown ups, moving onto their respective futures. The last day of their seven years at Hogwarts, eight technically for most in her year.

The joy was everywhere, but tinged with sadness that their time together was over. Some burned their school gear. Hermione would never do that. She treasured her school things, probably would more so now that her school time was over.

The party had fizzled out and everyone was preparing for the train ride home. The last train ride. It didn't take her long to pack, a side effect of being chronically organised. She waited in the common room with her truck, waited to Ron and Harry to finish their packing. She could well imagine them throwing their things in the truck without any kind of thinking at all.

She was going to go backpacking around Eastern Europe with Ron, Harry and Ginny this summer. The war was a distant memory now, over a year had passed and the future looked nothing but bright.

Her and Ron were pretty much an item. Had been for a couple of months now and Hermione expected them to get closer over the summer. Harry and Ron had both been accepted into Auror training, while she was headed for the hallowed halls of St. Mungos.

The day was full of endless hugs and bitter sweet goodbyes. There were more than a few hangovers, not that Hermione had one. Not that she hadn't indulged a little, she just hadn't gotten carried away.

The carriage ride down to the train was filled with them sharing their best memories of the last eight years. Hermione felt so lucky to be with her best friends.

The platform was chaos. The chatter was deafening, but Hermione found a vantage point from where she could see the castle again. She said a quiet goodbye, sure she would some day see it again, but you never knew what the future held. She would likely never be a resident in it again.

She had never felt this sadness leaving it before, but then it had never been the last time either. Everyone in her year were a bit more reserved than any other year, for the same reason. The younger kids didn't notice. They were all excited about summer holidays and it was infectious.

Being Head Girl meant that she and well as the prefects all had to patrol. Although being the last one, she was a lot more half hearted about it that any previous time. The younger kids could do the work, she sighed. The younger Slytherin prefects were pretty good at keeping kids in line although they were a little bullying, but what else was new. Alls right in the world right?

Suddenly the cart she was walking through got completely dark. Kids were gasping and yelling. Hermione felt an immediate sense of panic but calmed when she realised it was Peruvian Darkness powder.

"Oh very funny." She called out. "Calm down everyone, it will pass in a couple of minutes."

She cursed the Weasley brothers for their twisted brains. That stuff really should have been illegalised. Is that even a word, she thought to herself.

The panic in the train cart gave way to annoyance and laughter by some. The occasional howl of pain as kids fumbled around in the dark and crashed into each other.

Hermione decided to try for the exit and reached her hands out in front of her. She took a few tentative steps and encountered a warm barricade in front of her. She splayed her fingers and realised she was touching someone's arm. Someone tall. She knew from the feel of this person's arm that they were taller than either Harry or Ron.

"Who is this?" She said. "I'm sorry, I am just trying to get past."

He didn't answer and Hermione felt a twinge of concern. She felt her hand slide of his arm as he stepped in towards her.

She was just about to yell that she was standing right there thinking he didn't realise when she felt a soft kiss. The barest of kisses, the slightest of touches that sent tingling sensations all down her.

Hermione gasped and he took the opportunity to delve into her mouth. It felt like slow motion, but still too quick for her mind to do anything. His tongue explored hers and she was too shocked to react. Much to shocked to fight it. She didn't know why but she just let it, let him.

She could hear his sighing breath as the kiss deepened. She knew this scent, but she didn't know where from. She had never tasted anyone like him. It was woody and deep, with a hint of after storm rain. A taste that got her in the gut.

The sheer forbiddenness of the whole thing was exhilarating. A stolen kiss.

He pulled her in tight and his height made her arch back as he slowly explore her mouth. She felt the hardness of his body as he held her. His hand was on the back of her head, in her hair, holding her head up to his mouth.

The kiss broke as slowly as it started, finishing in the barest of touches before parting completely, but the darkness prevailed. He stood there for a second. Hermione knew because she was holding onto the material by his hip. Heavy material in a fine weave. Expensive material. Not of school robes or of a sweater, but of a suit.

Hermione still felt the kiss on her lips, felt the absence of pressure and warmth as he pulled away completely, out of her the slight grip she had of his clothes. She blinked to try to get her vision back, but it was still dark.

A few seconds later the darkness let up and all the students were looking around them to see what was going on. There was no one there, who looked like the person who had just kissed her.

After a moment of looking around and holding her fingers to her aching lips, she turned and headed out of the cart. She needed air.

She knew in her gut that Draco Malfoy had just kissed her. He hadn't been there before the darkness, she would have noticed. She would never be able to prove it or have any kind of certainty, but she knew. A kiss that will never be repeated, never admitted to, but one that will never be completely forgotten. And she would never know why.


End file.
